Sebastian’s thoughts shifted to his two donors. Paul had taken Alex Hernandez and Jolie Simone to Brentwood for a day of sun and fun. Sebastian had a special arrangement with Sophia Vargas, a long-standing client who, in exchange for free transfusions, allowed his well-behaved donors to spend a nice, long summer day outside in the privacy of her backyard, get some sun and fresh air when her husband was away on yet another one of his overseas business trips. The system, while unusual, had worked perfectly for the last few years, helped make the donors feel less like prisoners.

Had Paul taken Alex and Jolie with him, or were they dead?

On the radio, the reporter who was live at the scene broke in and said, “We’ve got confirmation police found two bodies inside the house—a yet-unidentified male and female. A source close to the investigation believes the victims are carriers who were abducted several years ago.”

So, there it was.

The phone rang. Frank.

“Paul reached out to me,” Frank said.

Sebastian felt a couple of the stones stacked on his heart slide away.

“I gave him the address of our house in Long Beach,” Frank said. “I told him he could lie low there until we sort this mess out.”

Paul didn’t know about the house in Long Beach, what they used it for. With its sweeping ocean views and stellar sunsets, the fully furnished house was disarming—not the sort of place you figured you’d spend your last moments of life.

Which was the point. Paul wouldn’t suspect a thing.

“He’s on his way there now,” Frank said.

A few more stones fell, Sebastian now feeling like he could finally draw a full breath. Forty minutes ago, he’d had his mind set on going home and getting his new passport and credit cards and cash, packing up some clothes, and preparing for life on the run. Now he had hope.

“You’re sure?” Sebastian asked.

“If you mean am I tracking his cell signal, the answer is no. I’m not at the office at the moment. I’ve had bigger fish to fry.”

Frank, Sebastian knew, was referring to certain business arrangements that had become top priorities. “Our other donors,” Sebastian began.

“Already being moved to our new compound.”

They had built a new facility as a backup, in the event the location of their current one was ever compromised. The locations of his donor compounds were Sebastian’s biggest and most important secret. There was no way Paul would know where the donors lived. But with Paul, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

Frank said, “The old compound is being scrubbed and shut down as we speak. Same with the house where Paul picked up Alex and Jolie this morning. There won’t be a single shred of evidence to indicate they were there—I promise you that.”

“What about his car? The Beemer.”

“He said he took care of it.”

“Took care of it how?”

“He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask, figuring we could do question-and-answer time later. I stuck to the script.”